


I'm Sorry for Your Loss

by sanctum_c



Series: FFVII Rare Pair Week 2020 [6]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Domestic, F/F, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Canon, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25116130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Ifalna glanced past her towards the door. “I need to tell you now before Aeris can. The Ancients can hear the Planet.” She held up her hands. “There’s complexities and oddities to that and to our traditions but none of them matter right now. We can also hear the spirits of those who return to the Planet.” Ifalna was looking at her meaningfully.Elmyra saved Ifalna at the station; now she and Aeris are living with her.
Relationships: Elmyra Gainsborough/Ifalna
Series: FFVII Rare Pair Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800481
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	I'm Sorry for Your Loss

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Combo Day (mix and match)'

Ifalna descended the stairs with a sombre expression. Elmyra’s chest tensed. What had gone wrong? Her fumbled and rushed first aid and surgery not enough to save her? Was the wound now infected and her life now in danger? No. Something else. Ifalna was walking unsupported, the winces she made with each step about expected from someone healing from a bullet wound.

A clatter on the stairs, Aeris rushed down. “Elmyra-“

Ifalna caught her daughter’s arm. “No.”

“But-“ The girl strained against her mother’s grip. “She-“

Ifalna shook her head. “Go and-“ She gestured with her off hand. “Explore. Play.”

“Play?” Aeris frowned.

A pang of concern; the strange mother and daughter hiding from Shinra. The daughter who found dresses and ribbons marvels. For whom the garden around Elmyra’s house was a paradise. For whom the Sector was full of intrigue and new sights – and not what felt like the rubbish dump of the slums. Ifalna caught Elmyra’s gaze. She crossed to her purse. “You remember how to get to the store?”

Aeris whirled around and nodded. “Yup.”

Elmyra held out a handful of gil. “Can you go and buy us all some chocolate?”

Chocolate was one of Aeris’s favourite food-stuffs. This should not be distinguishable from most children, but the sheer reverence Aeris exhibited when eating again sparked uncomfortable questions of her previous life. One day she would need to convince Ifalna to tell her the whole story. Why did certain names make Aeris flinch so? How cramped and restrictive was Aeris’s life for them both to carefully coax her into venturing out of doors?

Aeris took the gil and was already running for the door. Elmyra let it slam and the sound of Aeris’s boots on the path fade away. “Should we sit?”

“Yes.”

They took opposite sides of the kitchen table; Ifalna’s hands flexed and she entwined her fingers. “I have something to tell you and it will not be easy to accept.” She took a deep breath. “There is much of us I have not told you. Myself and Aeris.” She chewed her lip. “You have been so kind to us both, so I will be courteous and tell you the truth. I am the last of the Ancients-“

Elmyra blinked. She opened her mouth to protest. Ifalna continued. “I understand you will have doubts about this. Out numbers have dwindled for years. We-“ She sighed.

“I believe you.” The right thing to say, whether she could be sure she meant it was another matter. Spur of the moment she needed to save mother and daughter. But only now did the realisation come: Elmyra had let two strangers into her home. No. Terrible to think along those lines. Ifalna was nothing but courteous, helpful and grateful.

“I am... unsure of what you may have learned of us over time. Before Shinra-“ Ifalna broke off again, a flash of pain across her face. She held up a hand when Elmyra rose from her chair. “Unfortunate memories. I am fine.” Her arm was tight at her side all the same. “Before Shinra I stayed away from humans where I could. But-“ She sighed. “This is not the time for any of this.”

“It’s okay?”

“No. No, this isn’t about me. It’s about you.”

“Me?” Elmyra blinked again.

Ifalna glanced past her towards the door. “I need to tell you now before Aeris can. The Ancients can hear the Planet.” She held up her hands. “There’s complexities and oddities to that and to our traditions but none of them matter right now. We can also hear the spirits of those who return to the Planet.” Ifalna was looking at her meaningfully.

“Return to the Planet?” A sense of it there. Spirits returning to- “Someone who-“ The word was stuck on the tip of her tongue. Her vision blurred and she completed the sentence with a sob. “Died?” Say no. Say she misunderstood. Say anything. Instead Ifalna nodded.

The dam broke inside her and Elmyra sobbed. Words. Nothing more than words from a stranger and yet there was no doubt, no way to disbelieve or dismiss what Ifalna said. No motive made sense for a callous trick. A movement beside her, warm arms embracing her holding her close. “Someone close to you has returned to the Planet.” Ifalna’s body relaxed against her, some support gone. “Your wife loved you dearly.”

Time became nebulous and Elmyra sobbed. Every fear come true; the dread words ever since she kissed her wife goodbye as she set off for Junon and the Wutai war. All come to pass. Coherency came in stages; Ifalna still embracing her, the sobs fading, Elmyra’s face damp. “Sorry.” Her voice came out as a mutter.

“I... am sorry for your loss.” Ifalna’s words were oddly stilted. Like she knew of an expectation of sympathetic words and expressed them as best she could. Did the Ancients experience this all the time?

Elmyra wiped at her eyes. “Thank you.” She pulled away, trying to regain composure. “Aeris should be back soon-“

“She’s become distracted-“ A glance from Ifalna to the door. “She is fine.”

Elmyra forced a smile. “Ancient stuff?” Ifalna nodded. Elmyra took a deep breath. Sorrow loomed close, but for now- Now practical matters required her. “I should- I should start on dinner.”

“Could I help?” Ifalna seemed uncertain, but her composure seemed lighter.

“That would be nice. Thank you.”


End file.
